Fenway

This is my friend Fenway. She is my daughter's dog. I have painted her before but never a closeup. I took a photo and painted an image in a very loose manner on wet paper. These projects are challenging and fun. I know an art instructor that enlarges an animal photo, prints it and then sends his students to the window to trace it onto their art paper. They then paint in the colors like a 'paint by the number' project. Everyone goes home satisfied with a finished painting. I'm sure there is merit in this exercise but little originality is exercised.

The Chair Metaphor Painting

When authority has no support it is useless. This exercise was to paint the chair as a metaphor. Most chose to paint a negative image of a chair. I used my iPhone flash light to project shadows of a chair. Several different chair angles were projected with light and roughly drawn with a pencil and then painted. The exaggeration can be appreciated when compared to the actual chair size shown on the left. The images can be very large but are only a shadow of a chair without any support. It needs legs to stand up. Have you ever encountered a chair that only projected a shadow?

Value Training

We have spent 3 weeks on value change using watercolor media. These last two demos were for graded washes and tree shapes with value change. Everyone has worked hard on this series and produced good results. It amazes me how quiet the class becomes as they try to determine how to paint shapes that are determined by value. I'm sure their squinting at projected images have added many new wrinkles to their faces. It is so rewarding to have a class get this involved.

Spring Mud Puddles

Our group went out a country road to find a painting location. A large stack of wet rotting hay next to a pickup truck was my subject. You can see the tracks where cars or trucks have driven through the wet mud. I was challenged to paint these mud puddles and get some cast reflections. In the background is the blue mountain chain of Winters. All went well until time to leave and I got my car caught in the mud. The front of my car just went deeper as I tried to rock my way out. The hay bales saved me. With lots of help from my fellow artists who stuck pads of hay under my tires, I eventually got out. The car was covered with mud. Stopped in a carwash on my way home but some mud still remains. I also have plenty of mud inside. Quite an outing.

My Mexican Beach

This isolated beach is pristine except for a few bodies near the surf. It is nice to have such a getaway. You almost want no one to know about it. Obviously, some have found it and even live in this paradise. A couple of features to this painting include the wet reflections of the beach people. They are just hinted but create a wet sand. The other is the back lighting creating silhouettes of the tall palms bringing them close even without details.

Last Look at Dreams Resort, Huatulco

Got a taxi to a harbor promoted by our guide in the hotel. It took about 5 minutes to get there and then I trekked through a jungle with water and vines onto the beach. I then realized that I was only a mile or so from our beach. Needless to say, I walked back after the painting was done. It was very hot.

Santa Cruz Harbor

This cozy harbor with steep banks is where the large cruise ships stop. They use that long wharf. I arrived early to paint and down below me was a parade of sailors in white, marching to a drummer. They did this for about an hour. Probably good to get that over before it gets too hot. Reminded me of my basic training in Lubboc, Texas in August. We started at 5AM. Huatulco is misleading to those arriving on cruises as well as air. The harbor is not commercial. As you wind your way out to resorts, the roads are clean with white curbs and manicured green verges. It is in contrast to other areas found in Mexico. The apartments are tucked into the hills. There are several layers of mountains, including the the Sierra Madre. The trees have a rust color yet the foliage does not fall. The rains don't come until June. Anything green is being watered.